~The Next Day: 5:45 am~

I wake up with a yawn and head to the bathroom to wash up and get decent for school. After getting ready, I go downstairs and see my brother leaving while holding jelly- filled bread.

"No time to talk Sara. I gotta walk my girlfriend to school." I shrug and wave goodbye as he runs off. I make myself some rolled egg omelets with peppers and ham as well as grab a handful of jelly filled bread to eat as well. I place my food down and pour myself a glass of strawberry milk.

I sit down, pray, turn on the tv, and enjoy my food.

~30 minutes later~

That was delicious. I wash the dishes and grab my things including my new cute Starbucks cup. I fill the cup with sweet mango juice, turn off the tv, and head off to school.

~25 minutes later~

I reach the school.

It's so big. I hope I don't get lost. Luckily, I find my way to the principal's office within 3 minutes. The secretary lets me in and I walk inside taking in the glory that is his office.

I wouldn't mind getting sent here. This is beautiful. It looks like an actual study instead of a scary boring room. I think I'm gonna like this school. I walk to his desk and sit down. He comes in shortly and says, "Oh hello, who are you?" "I'm Han Sara. I'm new here and would like my schedule please." "Oh okay," he walks behind his desk and pulls out a drawer, "First, I need to give your new student id card. It has your name, grade level, and id number on it. Don't lose it. You'll need it to get lunch, books, and to take quizzes and tests." He hands me my id card along with a pamphlet about the school. "Thank you so much. "Also," he goes through his computer and prints off a page, "your schedule is being printed off right now. You will have these classes all year round and won't be able to change unless for serious and good reasoning. Does that sound viable?" I nod, "Yes sir." "Well then, you may take your schedule and leave. Have a nice day Ms. Han. Oh and remember, on Fridays the students wear the school's uniform provided at our local tailor shop. That'll be all." I stand up and take my schedule, "Thank you, Mr. Chang. It was nice meeting you." I leave the office. I love him. He's so down to Earth. I start walking in a random direction and look down at my watch. 7:42. I then look at my schedule.

Sara, Han           Grade Level: Year 1          ID:100163492	Room Number	Instructor
Free Study (7:30-8:25)	Free to Roam
Hanja (8:30- 9:25)	Class 1-1 (1101)	Ms. Lim
English (9:30- 10:25)	Class 1-1 (1101)	Mr. Park
Mathematics (10:30- 11:25)	Class 1-1 (1101)	Mr. Shin
Art (11:30- 12:25)	1425	Ms. Lee
Lunch (12:30-1:20)	Cafeteria
Science (1:30- 2:25)	Class 1-1 (1101)	Mrs. Baek
Social Studies (2:30- 3:25)	Class 1-1 (1101)	Ms. Kim
Home Economics (3:30- 4:25)	1273	Mrs. Lee
Physical Education (4:30- 5:25)	Gymnasium	Mr. Yang
Dinner (5:30- 6:25)	Cafeteria
Free Study (6:30- 7:25)	Free to Leave

Free Study huh. I'll just go to my homeroom and unpack my things as well as read about what this school offers in terms of activities. I walk down several hallways looking for room 1101. Just then, I see a class sign that reads 1-1. I get closer and see 1101 under the sign. Yes, I made it. I walk inside and see several students already here. I ignore them for now and look at the seating chart on the teacher's podium.

		Teacher's Podium
Ahn Bomi & Choi Yoosaeng	Mo Eunhye & Byun Baekhyun	Lee Seobin & Oh Sehun	Ryu Nayoun & Kim Minseok	Kim Sanhoo & Class President: Kim Junmyeon
Park Ahyeon & Lu Han	Kim Yumi & Kim Jongdae	Won Hee-eun & Park Inyoul	On Seongmin & Zhang Yixing	Wang Jena & Wu Yifan
Hwang Boyoon & Sim Dan	Lee Youngwon Do Kyungsoo	Jo Changyung & Chae Wonjun	Choi Danjung & Park Chanyeol	Kwak Sohyung & Choi Dongyup
Hong Sia & Man Hodeuk	Song Noran & Huang Zitao	Je Yeseo & Gil Haeteuk	Ahn Yeseul & Kim Donyo	Yu Jimin & Kim Jongin
Choi Naesun & Jung Daesung	Kim Jaesi & Seo Youngrak	Lee Hyomi & Jung Moojun	Noh Baera & Choi Shigeun	Han Sara & Hwa Youngsae

D.O.'s P.O.V

I look up from my phone and see her. There she goes. Still as beautiful as the many years before. My one and only crush, Han Sara. I watch her go towards the back and sit down. I turn around to get a better look and watch her unpack her pretty things.

They're almost as cute as she is. I quickly snap out of it and go back to watching a movie on my phone. I smile to myself. This is gonna be a great year.

Sara's P.O.V

That was weird. D.O. seemed deep in thought while looking at me. Do I look weird? No, that can't be it. Maybe he was looking past me. I shrug. Oh well. Now, let's read this pamphlet.

'Welcome to Daegu Science High School. We specialize in producing elite students who excel in the science, mathematics, and technology fields. Luckily, regardless of what you want to pursue in your future life, we accept students from many intellectual backgrounds as well.'

Blah blah blah- Hmm, let's see. Ooh yes, right here. 'School-ground Activities'. I look up and down the long list and point out the ones that caught my eye. 'Successful Youth Program (includes volunteering, study groups, and AP classes all year), Mentoring Program (includes Summer camp leader, and intern teaching at the Primary School), College visiting and prep, Volleyball, Soccer, and Student Body Positions'. Yes, they have everything I'm interested in. I'll do some now and I can do the rest my other 2 years here. I look at the time again- 8:03. I look up not realizing that more students came. I see a familiar body and soon realize that it's Noran. I text her on my phone and she turns around.

We wave at each other and go back to what we were doing. Just then, Seongmin and Yoosaeng walk in at the same time and notice us.

They wave and go to their seats. I love this year already. Minutes pass and everyone is now in class. "Hi," the boy next to me says. I look over.

"Hi," I reply. "I'm Youngsae. What's your name?" "Sara, nice to meet you Youngsae." He smiles, "Let's be friends, okay?" He holds out his hand. I nod and shake his hand, "Okay." We hear the door open and everyone stands up. The teacher walks in and stands at the podium. "Class; bow and greet," Suho yells. "Hello, teacher," we say, monotonous, with a bow. "Class, sit." We sit and watch the teacher. "Thank you and hello class. I'm Ms. Lim and I will teach you your Hanja lessons. Now everyone, pull out your Hanja workbook as I explain. We pull out our book. Hopefully, this will be fun. "Now class, Hanja is basically Korean written in Chinese letters. Turn to page one and start your lesson. It's pretty self-explanatory. Just copy the letters, tear out the pages and turn it in. You only have to do chapter one with its 4 pages. She then leaves and we all start to work hard.

~30 minutes later~

I go through the work fairly quickly and Suho and I stand up at the same time. I go to the front and wait for him as he staples his torn pages together. He hands me the stapler with a smile and says, "Hi Sara, nice seeing you again." "Hi, Suho. Let's work hard this year, okay?" He nods and goes back to his seat. I staple my sheets and place them on the podium with Suho's. Soon after, one by one, students start placing their papers on the podium. I take a sip of my juice and talk to my partner. "So, do you plan on joining any clubs or activities?," I ask. "Yeah, right now I have to wait until next semester because I wanna play basketball. I also wanna do the mentoring program. Not now though- maybe next school year." "Oh my gosh same. Well, the mentoring part not basketball. I wanna play volleyball and soccer this school year and slowly add more to my plate. I'm also looking for a job, so yeah." "Cool, well maybe I'll see you at camp next year." "Sure." We stop talking for a few seconds and he starts again, "This semester, I'm focusing on school, of course, and getting my driver's license." "Cool. The only student I know with a car is my friend over there. Her name is Seongmin." "Wow, I might have to ask her for lessons." We laugh. "I'm sure she'd be happy to help. So I know this is sudden but do you plan on going to college?" "Of course. I wanna do Informational Technology in the future. How about you?" "Yep, and I wanna go to nursing school to be a Pediatrician. Lots of hard work but I know in the end it'll be worth it." He claps, "Determined, smart and funny. You're really something, Sara." "Thanks." After our conversation, Ms. Lim walks back in. "Okay class; time up. If you haven't turned in your work by now then do so quickly as I will be leaving." No one stands up. "Okay then, I'll be going now." "Class!," Suho yells. We stand up and bow while saying,"Goodbye teacher." She leaves the room and we sit down. Whoo, now it's time for our 5-minute break. I put my book away and get on my phone. I see 5 missing text messages from my friends.

I giggle and reply to them.

I put my phone away and wait for the next teacher to walk in. The teacher, sure enough, walks in. Everyone quickly stops doing what they were doing and go back to their seats. "Class greet." "Hello, teacher." "Class sit." We sit down and listen to this teacher. "Good morning class. It's currently 9:31 and I am Mr. Park- your English teacher. As your English teacher, I will be teaching you about Language Arts such as literature. If you're looking for an English teacher speaking English, then join the International Studies club because I'm not him nor her. Now please take out the first book we will be reading and analyzing which is the Harry Potter one." I pull out my book and wonder why we're reading this. I flip through a couple of pages. Hmm, looks....interesting. "I know class. It may seem to be too good to be true. We're reading Harry Potter in a high school English class but hey it's gonna get worse from here so enjoy this story while we're reading it. Okay now, page one...." The teacher reads the book aloud as we follow along. 

~40 minutes later~

"Okay class, that's the end of chapter one. Let's discuss what's going on and I'm going to pass out a worksheet that's due at the end of class. The faster we do this discussion the faster you can start on your assignment. Now, who wants to be the savior and explain what we just read." The class looks around and Suho raises his hand. "Okay uh?" "Kim Junmyeon, sir." "Junmyeon. Okay then- explain." Suho talks for about three minutes explaining what was going on. "Great. I wouldn't expect less from Mr. Class President. Okay, class," the teacher starts. He goes behind the podium and pulls out papers from a folder, "Here is your assignment." He passes out the papers and we have to explain what was our favorite part so far in an intellectual way. It has to be at least one paragraph and at least 8 sentences. I write my portion and turn it to the teacher, "Thank you.' he tells me before taking my paper. I sit back down and wait for the last few students to finish. "Okay class; times up, turn it what you have." Three students, including Seongmin, stand up and turn in their papers. The teacher leaves, marking our next 5-minute break. I look at my phone and join the conversation.

We put our phones away and wait for the next teacher. The next teacher comes in and he doesn't look too friendly. "Welcome class; no need to greet me let's just get started." I can hear Suho clear his throat. "Anyways, I'm Mr. Shin- your math teacher. We're gonna do a few problems on the board then I want you to do page one and two in your workbooks." He starts writing down a lot of problems and talking at the same time. I quickly grab my notebook and start copying the problems and notes he's given to us. "Now, someone come up here and do this problem." He looks around and points at me. "You in the back, come on." Why me, Lord. I get up and take the chalk from him. I analyze the problem and start solving almost immediately. I circle my answer. "Is it 4?" He gives me an approving nod. "Good job; you may now sit." I sit back down and Youngsae gives me a thumbs up. "Alright, class. Do pages one and two. I'll be back 2 minutes before your break." He leaves and I can hear a few groans in the class. Push hard guys. He's molding us right now. I take out my math textbook. Look at all these pages! Is he serious? Gosh, better start now.

~20 minutes later~

Luckily, the work he assigned was easy as everyone turned in their papers on time. He comes back two minutes before our break as promised and took the papers without seeing if anyone hasn't turned theirs in yet. He walks towards the door and stops, "Also class, you have homework. Work pages 3 and 4 are due tomorrow. Goodbye." He quickly leaves the class. Weird. Everyone gathers their things and leave the classroom. I also grab my things and leave the room. Youngsae walks past me with a smile and I stand there waiting for my friends to come out. Noran comes out with Yoosaeng. "Hey, Seongmin says that she'll join us later," Yoosaeng tells us. "I hope she's okay. It must be about that one assignment she didn't finish," Noran says. "It's just one assignment and we just started school back," I input. "I'm sure she'll be okay. Who bums out for a whole day?," Yoosaeng asks. "Don't know. I just hope she's okay," Noran says. We separate and walk to our next classes.

~2 minutes later~

Art room 1425. Here it is. I text my friends my classroom number and turns out Noran and Yoosaeng are both in music which is down the hall from me. Great. I guess we'll never be truly alone. I find a seat and wait for the teacher to come in. A girl walks over and sits beside me.

"Hi." "Hi," I reply. "I'm new around here." "The school or the city." "Both," I transferred here from Japan." "Oh wow. That's cool. So you're Japanese?" "Yes and no. I was born and raised there but my ethnicity is Korean." "Oh well, Hi again. I'm, Sara." "I'm Oh Hwana." The teacher comes in and we take our attention away from each other and on her. "Hello, class. I hope you had a good summer break. I'm your art teacher Ms. Lee. I'm going to take roll. Say 'here' when I call your name." The teacher takes roll and starts, "Okay, class. Today I just want to see your artistic abilities. Grab a piece of paper and whatever kind of tools you want and create a picture. I don't care what you create. Just go for it. When you're done turn it in to me and you can have some downtime." She goes back to her desk and Hwana looks at me with a smile, "She's really cool." "Yeah," I agree. We grab our utensils and finish the rest of the period drawing random things like pets, trees and flowers. The bell rings and I tell Hwana 'bye' as I turn in my work and leave the classroom. I walk 2 feet away from the door and take a deep breath. Great timing. I'm starving right now. The first day is really something. I meet up with Yoosaeng and Noran and we go to the cafeteria. Noran tries to open the door but it doesn't budge. A boy walks around us and scans his id and holds the door open for us. We blush and tell him thank you. We go to the side and wait to receive our tray and utensils. As soon as we reach the front, the machine asks us for our receipts. "Receipts?," Noran asks. "For what?," Yoosaeng asks. The boy comes over does some programming to the machine. "Next time, you guys will have to scan your ids. Then you will receive a confirmation receipt and be allowed to come in." Woah this place is really hi-tech. We thank him again and the machine opens revealing many freshly washed trays and eating utensils. We each grab a tray and wait in the food line. I take a sip from my cup. "Guys, where's Seongmin?," I ask. Yoosaeng shrugs, "Don't know. I've tried texting her and she never replied." "Ugh, why is she being so weird and distant, it's only one grade," Noran says, obviously frustrated. "It may mean a lot to her, Noran. We should just remain calm and supportive of her," I say. Noran shrugs and Yoosaeng nods. We reach the cooks and they serve us our rice. "Thank you," I say and move over to the other foods. I fix myself some soup, fruit and other sides.

I smell my food. Woah, I can't wait to try this kimchi. I find us all a table to sit at and my friends join me shortly after getting their drinks.

~2 minutes later~

"Ohana? Her name is Family?," Noran questions. "No, not Ohana. Her first name is Hwana and her last is Oh," I explain. "Oh, gotcha," she winks. "Anyways, she's really cool." "You're gonna leave us for her and that kid in our homeroom?," Yoosaeng asks. "No guys. You know you guys will always hold a special place in my heart." "Well, that's good to hear." We finish our food and realize that we still have 25 minutes left. "So guys, what should we do?," Noran asks. "Let's go to the school store and buy jellies," Yoosaeng suggests. Noran shrugs and we put our trays away. We go to the store and grab want we wanted.

"Yoosaeng, what are those?," Noran asks. "The jelly candy I was talking about." "Are the jellies that big?" "No, there are tiny jellies in these packs. They look pretty cool. Wanna see?" "No thanks." He frowns and walks towards the counter to check out. "Noran, if you need change, I'm not giving it to you." "I don't need your fake money." "It's not fake like you." "Oh, okay." I giggle at them and then I wonder, where is Seongmin. We pay and go back to the cafeteria. Noran lets us try her chips and I try some of Yoosaeng's gummies. All of which were good. I let them try some of my drink and they automatically fell in love. Noran looks at the drink wide-eyed, "Wow. I'm definitely getting some of this next time." "Yeah, I was unsure cause it's Pineapple and Coconut water, but it's really good, five out of five for sure," Yoosaeng expresses. I smile at their reactions and drink more of my juice before putting the rest away in my book bag.

~10 minutes later~

We go back to our homeroom and wait for our next class to start. The students start piling in and still no sign of Seongmin. Hmm. This is really strange. Where could she be? The science teacher comes in and introduces herself. Yoosaeng turns to Noran and asks her where Seongmin is. She shrugs. They both look at me and he mouths me the same thing. I sign back that I don't know and get startled by the sound of students taking our their books. My friends quickly turn around and I hurriedly take out my book. I could hear Youngsae laugh at me. I blush and look down. I then peek at his book and try to see what page he's on. I squint my eyes because I can't see anything. I open my mouth ready to ask. "53," he tells me. "Thanks," I whisper and immediately start paying attention. I take a lot of notes and luckily the teacher doesn't give us any work. We have five minutes left before class and I crack my knuckles and rest my hands. Youngsae looks over at me and asks, "You seem pooped. Long day?" "Yeah," I reply, "my friends and I were wondering where Seongmin is." "Hmm. The girl who sat up there right?" I look at him wide-eyed, "Yeah?" He grabs my cup out of my bookbag's side pocket and hands it to me. "Your throat sounds a little hoarse. You should pick up some Aloe Vera juice after school." I take a sip,"Oh, thanks. It must be from all of this stressing." "Well, don't fret. She looked calm as she walked out of school earlier." I choke and he pats my back, "You okay?" "Uh, yeah. Now, what do you mean she left?" "Yeah, I was getting water in the hall when everyone left the class and saw her leave the restroom. I guess she was on the phone cause she hung up and started texting someone like crazy." "Oh, I hope she okay." "She looked normal to me. No obvious weird actions or anything." "Well, I hope you're right. I'll ask her tomorrow morning, which will give her some time to herself today." I sip the last of what was in my Starbucks cup and put it back in my bookbag, as the next teacher walks in. We greet the teacher and she gives us a long lecture about how we don't know anything about our culture and this and that. Like ma'am, could you please do your job. We know our history. Finally, it's time for us to leave again and this time I have Home Economics. I wonder who I'll meet there.

~3 minutes later~

I walk into the classroom and see it half full with some uninterested faces. I guess I'm not with my friends, again. I find a seat in the front and listen to the teacher. "Welcome, class. Today, we won't be cooking but instead, I want to introduce you guys to my kitchen. Yes, we will be entering my kitchen in the back and I will show you where everything is. When we're done, I'll show you a television show where they're cooking parmesan chicken. We will make this tomorrow- so please, pay attention." We walk around her kitchen for a few minutes as she shows us our chef outfits as well as tell us about a few kitchen rules. We then watch the show and I start taking notes. This may even be yummy enough to make at home.

~4 minutes later~

I enter the gym and change into my gym clothes. I walk out and see classes 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, and 1-4. Look at all the students. I spot Hwana waving at me. I smile and wave back. She runs over to me, "Hey, Sara. What room are you in? I'm in room 1-3." "1-1. There are really a lot of students here." "I'll say. I hope I don't get lost. Is this really our graduating class?" "Yep, all 200 of us. Well, except Seongmin." She her head to the side and looks at me worriedly, "Is something wrong? Who is Seongmin?" Just then Noran, Yoosaeng, and Youngsae come over. "Oh, hi. I see you guys met. This is Hwana. Hwana, these are my friends Yoosaeng, Noran,...and Youngsae." He looks at me with a smile. I turn back to her, "Seongmin is another friend of mine who I would love for you to meet, but she walked out of school today with no warning." Noran inputs, "Yeah and she didn't even respond to any of our text messages." "Oh, that sounds weird, but I'm sure it's nothing," Hwana assures. "Yeah, I hope you're right," Noran says. I tell them, "I'll contact her tomorrow before school to see what's going on." Just then, we hear someone screaming into a microphone, telling us to line up for our stretches. We line up accordingly by classes and do a couple of stretches. The coach then gives us the rest of the period to either play flag football or walk around. Noran, Hwana, and I decide to walk while the boys join in on the game.

~40 minutes later~

School's officially over. I go to the back and take a shower. I get out and put my original clothes back on. Everyone starts to leave the buliding but I'm not ready to go yet. When I get home I just want to sleep so I should stay to eat and do my homework. I head to the cafeteria and scan my id. The machine gives me a receipt and door unlocks. I go inside and grab a tray. Not many people are here, I see. Since it's dinner time, the school lets us get as many helpings as we please. I don't get too much as I'm not that hungry and find a seat.

Looks delicious. "Hey, Sara." I look up and see Noran and Yoosaeng joining me. "You guys aren't going home?" "Nah, I'll just eat before I go home because why not?," Noran replies. "Yeah, but I have no choice since my mom wants me to ride with Kisung before and after school. I have no idea what he's doing now but he said he'll be done with whatever later." "Oh, well let's dig in guys," I announce. We start to eat and talk more about our day at school.

~50 minutes later~

"Alright, guys. I guess I should be going now," Noran says while stretching. Yoosaeng and I tell her bye and watch her leave. "I'm going to homeroom to do homework. Wanna come?," I ask him. "Sure." We get up and head to the classroom. I immediately pull out my books and start working while Yoosaeng goes back and forth between watching me and playing a mobile game. The sound of someone whistling is heard throughout the classroom. We look up and see Kisung motioning Yoosaeng to leave with him. "Peace out," Sara. "Bye." "Hey, Sara. See you later," Kisung says. I smile and wave. They leave and I get back to my work. After finishing up my homework, I pack my things and look at the time- 7:10 pm. Time to go home. I leave the building and take the subway to a convenience store near my house.

~25 minutes later~

I walk into the cold store and pick up the first jug of Aloe Vera juice I could find.

I pay for the juice and decide to use the next 5 minutes to walk home, since it was quicker than waiting for the bus, and go to sleep.